alt Hacker NewsGlobalstar is a study in corporate survival. It lives on while its 90’s cohort Iridium didn’t make it.
Consider the journey:
2002: Bankruptcy.
2007: Satellite amplifier failures threatened its voice service.
2010–2013: A replacement constellation helped restore capacity.
2022: Apple's iPhone Emergency SOS gave Globalstar a major new purpose.
2024: Apple committed approximately $1.5 billion in investment and infrastructure funding.
Now: This acquisition by Amazon would bring Globalstar's satellite assets and spectrum into Amazon's competition with Starlink, while preserving satellite services for Apple devices.
Iridium has a museum: iridium museum.com
Replies
I can highly recommend the book "Eccentric Orbits" by John Bloom if you want to learn about the Iridium constellation story. Easily one of the best books I've read in the last few years. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26893707-eccentric-orbit...
> 2022: Apple's iPhone Emergency SOS gave Globalstar a major new purpose.
I wondered who it was that Apple was using for that but never looked into it. Was it for any particular reason on Apple's part other than it probably saved them a bundle compared to going with literally anyone else? Or is there something else I'm missing? Just curious. I wish I could be a fly on the wall for some of these corporate events nobody thinks too much about.
The Iridium constellation(s) are very much in active use. They transitioned their business model from pure communications to RF remote sensing. They are among the leaders in some markets for RF remote sensing platforms. AFAIK the businesses in these markets do not use the Iridium name, which makes sense given it is a historical telecom brand.
Iridium didn't make it? I use it all the time.
It lives on while its 90’s cohort Iridium didn’t make it.
Garmin inReach users will be disappointed to hear that: “inReach devices use the Iridium satellite constellation, which forms a mesh with 100% globe coverage.”
The biggest benefit Amazon has vs starlink is their hosting is considered the standard and because of that they already have a connection to every other network.
So any latency Sat incurs, Amazon will likely have the closest path to the destination and be the most preferred wisp
walmart has a museum too
https://www.visitbentonville.com/blog/stories/post/the-new-w...
Very high value acquisition
How did they not become spacex/starlink
I consulted for iridium for 8 years from like 2009-2018. They very much still exist?
Iridium exists today, refreshed their constellation with Iridium NEXT just a few years ago, and was just bought by Rocket Lab for $8 billion.
(disclaimer: my Dad worked there for years)